Trojans Rally Past Bobcats with Strong Second Half

BANNER ELK, N.C. -- Jenah Tracy (Naples, Fla.) tallied two assists and six ground balls to pace Lees-McRae on Saturday afternoon, as Mount Olive outscored the Bobcats by an 11-1 margin in the second half en route to a 19-6 victory in Conference Carolinas play.

Mount Olive (8-6, 2-4 CC) outshot Lees-McRae (3-6, 0-4 CC) by a 43-16 margin in the contest, including a 15-12 edge in the first half, while holding a narrow 47-44 advantage in ground balls. The Trojans controlled 18 of 28 draws and converted 16 of 21 clearing attempts, as Lees-McRae recorded 11 clears.

Jessica MacConnell (Cary, N.C.) and Olivia Gudewich (Frederick, Md.) led the way for Lees-McRae with two goals each, as Tracy and Katelin Rooney (Naples, Fla.) each added a strike of their own. Tracy posted a team-high two assists, while Rooney and Gudewich both tallied a helper. Nicole Dupont (Fort Myers, Fla.) chipped in a game-high nine ground balls, as Mia Emmerson (Orlando, Fla.) recorded 20 saves between the pipes.

Alex Crawford paced the Trojans with game-highs of five goals and three assists, as Riann Daziel added a hat trick. Allie Dunn, Maddy Biggar, Heather Cockburn, and Caitlin Sabadish each chipped in two strikes, while Crawford posted five ground balls and a game-high six caused turnovers. Sarah Snell made seven saves for the Trojans.

Lees-McRae got off to a strong start, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals by MacConnell and Gudewich before Mount Olive answered with six tallies over the next nine minutes, claiming a 6-2 advantage on Dunn's first strike of the day at the 17:36 mark.

The Bobcats would counter with three of the next five goals, cutting the margin to 8-5 heading into the intermission following MacConnell's second of the day with just under a minute remaining in the first half.

Mount Olive responded in the second half, scoring four goals in the first 15 minutes to push the lead to 12-6 on Daziel's second tally of the afternoon at the 16:32 mark. The Trojans would close out the victory from there, tallying seven strikes in the last 15 minutes of play to equal the final margin of 19-6.

Lees-McRae returns to action on Wednesday when the Bobcats host No. 3 Limestone College to close out the regular season at 6:00 p.m. on Tate Field. The Bobcats will honor their senior class prior to the opening draw.